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 Being Retired now, I thought that it was time for a new name to this Blog |
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Talk about perks, my career had one of the best I can think of! I traveled in the course of business, delivering classes for my employer. I was a Senior Training Specialist for Motorola Solutions, and taught classes on a wide variety of subjects centered around 2-way radio communications. I knew that when the time arrived that I would retire, and I have. I've always said that if you can't stand the heat in the kitchen, get out! I can't handle the heat anymore. I was qualified to deliver approximately 32 different classes, but about half of those were 'Legacy' classes, and were not in demand anymore. My students were technicians, those who maintained, programmed, calibrated, and repaired large 2-way radio systems. Some of these systems are statewide, and use TCP-IP networking to allow sites to communicate with others. Some are small, traditional type radio sites. The size doesn't matter, in each case the systems must be kept operational at all times, since many of them are Public Safety Systems. So I traveled, sometimes frequently, 3-4 weeks in a row.... where have I been? Some of the places I've been (I can't list them all here, the list would be toio long) are pretty interesting. 1. Hawaii - Four times, Oahu, Maui (twice), and the Big Island 2. BangkokThailand, twice 3. Frankfurt Germany, twice 4. Algiers, Algeria 5. Melbourne Australia 6. Bismarck North Dakota, Summer & Winter 7. Los Angeles, Too many times to count 8. Washington DC, Too many times to count 9. Seattle three or four times 10. Texas, all over the state 11. Florida, all over the state 12. New Mexico, HOME! Several times  Best Cultural And Regional Honorable Mention |
Things I've Done That Most Will Never Do I've done a lot in my life, we all have. But I think there are several things I've done that most people will never have the chance to do. 1. I caught a plate as it flew past my head in a restaurant. I was working in a restaurant, heading to the dish area to drop off a tray of dishes. The person in front of my stopped unexpectedly, forcing me to stop also. And of course the guy behind me, and so on.... But, when the guy behind me stopped, a plate came flying off his tray past my head. I saw it out of the corner of my eye, and calmly reached up and grabbed it out of the air. That guy behind me could not believe what he saw, and exclaimed loudly about it. I didn't even realize what I had done until he said something. I couldn't do that again if I tried. 2. I was on the Pre-Commissioning Crew of the USS Alabama SSBN 731, and did a couple of things that most will never do. I stood 10-15 feet from the Reactor Core as it was lowered into the boat. The Core is not that radioactive if it has not been taken critical yet. Obviously this one had never been taken critical, so it was 'safe' to be there. 3. The second thing that I did on the Alabama, was easy. I was the first crewmember to spend the night on the boat. Now you have to understand the state of the Submarine at this time. There were still holes in the hull to for people to walk through. Since the boat's hull is about 43 feet in diameter, if those holes weren't there, everyone would have to climb ladders to reach the top. Those holes just made it easier to get in and out. I spent that first night on board since I was the Engineering Duty Petty Officer (EDPO). There was also an officer in the duty section, the Engineering Duty Officer (EDO). But he got to sleep in a trailer on the pier. I slept in the only bunkroom that had temporary walls assembled. It was noisy too! Why? Because drilling, sanding, cutting going on. As the EDPO, I did a tour of the Engineroom every 4 hours, as did the EDO. We alternated times so one of us toured every 2 hours. One of the crewmen would wake me, I'd shake the grinding dust and dirt from my hair before starting my tour. I'd also be woke by shipyard personnel because welding had been done, necessitating a radiograph of the new weld (All welds of piping and the hull were radiographed). Yeah, it was a fun time standing EDPO. NOT! 4. In my senior year in High School, I was the Lead Drum Major in the band. The band voted on who would be next year's Drum Major based on their tryout. To be frank, I won in a landslide. It's not that much of a big deal, but how many of us have been a Drum Major? So, what have you done in your lifetime that few others have done? I'm interested in knowing things like this. J D |
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OK, it's funnier now than then.
